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Retractions of scientific papers are skyrocketing: In 2011 the Thomson Reuters online database of scientific publications contained more than 400 withdrawal notices—an increase of more than 1,000% since the early 2000s, when the annual count was about 30. (The number of papers published rose by just 44%.) Scientists attribute the trend, reported in Nature, to growing incentives for publishing breakthrough research, wider scrutiny in an online format, and software for detecting plagiarism and data manipulation. However, the percentage of articles that are retracted remains small.

A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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